This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
There are instances during the course of normal commerce that it is desirable to know certain information, such as card program, card issuer, etc., about a payment card (e.g., a credit or debit card) without the user of the payment card actually making a transaction. Such information can be used to understand consumer interests, spending patterns, etc., as a group of specific card holders, or to provide the card holder with relevant information, such as promotions, offers, etc., for a specific card.
Currently, to detect the card type and other generic information, the most commonly-used approach is to read the Primary Account Number (PAN) of a user's card and find the Bank Identification Number (BIN) for the card, and match the BIN with card issuer and relevant card program. This process involves the extraction and temporary storage and possible transmission of sensitive information which is vulnerable to hacking and interception by a third party. While encryption can be used to secure the process, it can result in added costs.
A need therefore exists to provide a method that seeks to address at least some of the above-mentioned problems or provide a useful alternative.